


Madeleine

by ronans



Series: Madeleine [1]
Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, eliott has a child, lucas works in a grocery store, maybe lucas has a crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 17:46:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18997474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ronans/pseuds/ronans
Summary: When Lucas meets his eyes, he’s surprised he doesn’t lose his balance.





	Madeleine

**Author's Note:**

> biiiiig thanks to the gc, eliottsmec and lovebird1517 - would not have written this without you guys<3

Lucas is stacking an endless row of instant noodles when he hears a distinct voice behind him.

‘If you stare at them any harder I’d think they were coming home with you tonight.’

‘Oh, they’re definitely coming home with me,’ Lucas sighs, thinking about his dwindling bank balance. The deluxe ready meals in the next aisle distantly call his name.

Alexia scoffs and rips the sad looking packet out of his hands. ‘I’ll take over. You need to take a good long look at the fresh produce section. You do realise there’s more than one food group, right?’

‘Well, now I do,’ Lucas replies, plastering on a chipper grin and standing up from his crouch. Alexia titters and bats him with the back of her hand.

Lucas drags his feet as he leaves Alexia behind, absently trailing his fingers along the price tags as he walks. He’s got about three hours left of his shift; he can do this. He smiles falsely at any customers he passes as he makes his way towards the fruit and vegetables, inwardly groaning with the effort.

Lucas rolls his eyes as he takes in the complete disarray that is the salad section. ‘Animals,’ he mutters to himself, running a hand through his hair before resigning himself to a life of reorganising the produce (for the next ten minutes, at least).

He’s halfway through the task when a small grunt from behind him catches his attention and he swivels around to see a little girl with messy light brown hair leaning over the display opposite. Lucas watches as she tries to drag a watermelon out of one of the troughs to no avail.

‘Are you alright there?’ he asks, already apprehensive about dealing with a 4-year-old. It’s not that he doesn’t _like_ kids, he just never knows how to properly interact with them.

She looks up at him sharply, a strangely adult expression on her soft features. ‘Hello.’

He’s a little taken aback by her abrupt tone. ‘Hello…’

She huffs and abandons the watermelon, strutting past him and moving to another aisle. He follows, not entirely sure for what reason. _It’s because you don’t want to leave a 4-year-old child unsupervised, dipshit._

He watches as the kid ambles her way over to the aisle Lucas had previously been working on. Alexia has somehow managed to disappear into thin air in the two minutes he’d been away, leaving Lucas to deal with the child alone. Her grey-blue eyes scan the produce, eyeing everything as if it was the most important object in the world.

Lucas nibbles his lower lip for a moment before squatting down so he’s at her height. ‘What’s your name?’

She glances at him for a moment before focusing back on the noodles. ‘Madeleine.’

He’s always loved that name; coincidentally it happened to be his mother’s middle name. He grins and this time it’s completely genuine. ‘Madeleine. I’m Lucas.’

‘Okay,’ she says. He snorts at her lack of interest and observes as she reaches out to grab one of the bright green packages, the sleeves of her too-big sweater falling to her elbows. She draws her eyebrows together and then looks at Lucas. ‘Does this count as a vegetable?’

Lucas smiles warmly at her and takes the instant noodles out of her hand. ‘I don’t think so, but maybe we should ask your mum?’

Madeleine glares at Lucas and takes the packet back from him. ‘She’s not here.’

Lucas suddenly feels alarmed, leaning closer to the girl. ‘Are you lost?’

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. ‘No, my Papa just said to wait while he got…’ Lucas raises his eyebrows anticipating the end of the sentence. It never arrives, Madeleine becoming seemingly enamoured again by the different coloured packaging. ‘Are these saffron?’ She points at a row of flavour packets a little further down the aisle. Lucas is taken completely off guard by the question.

‘Why would you need saffron?’ he asks, breathing out a little laugh.

Madeleine puts all her efforts into scrunching up her face. ‘My dad told me noodles and saffron are the best combinations in the world.’

Lucas stares at her for a moment, taking in her honest eyes and chalk stained hands. ‘ _Saffron_?’ He doesn’t know what else to say.

‘No… Saffron and blueberries and bacon... I think. Papa?!’ The last word is a shout, and Lucas almost flinches. He manages to stay in his crouched position without toppling over, watching her warily as she throws the packet noodles from hand to hand.

‘Blueberries and bacon?’ Lucas is aware of how dumb he sounds, but elects to ignore it, instead keeping his eyes trained on the merchandise the child is carelessly throwing back and forth.

‘The best pair,’ she says distractedly. Lucas almost cries at the response but manages, miraculously, to hold it in. ‘Papa?!’ she yells again.

Lucas whips his head around, desperately searching for Madeleine’s parent so as to put a stop to the shouting. His prayers are swiftly answered when a man skids to a stop at the end of the row. He’s out of breath, a stricken expression on his face which soon melts into one of relief.

When Lucas meets his eyes, he’s surprised he doesn’t lose his balance. For starters, his cheekbones could probably cut him from across the store and his mussed brown hair is just begging for Lucas to drag his hands through it. Lucas’ eyes travel steadily down as the man strides towards him. Veins protrude from his forearms and travel across the expanse of his beautiful hands and the guy’s legs seem to go on forever; lean thighs and calves wrapped snugly in light ripped denim.

By the time Lucas has finished his appraisal, his mouth’s dry and the man has bent down to place his hands on Madeleine’s face. Lucas blinks slowly as he processes the image in front of him.

‘Maddy, I told you not to run off, I was worried,’ the man says softly, concern colouring his tone.

_Oh. Voice._

‘I was fine. I was with Lucas,’ Madeleine replies matter-of-factly, turning out of her father’s grasp to point at said Lucas. He blushes under the man’s gaze as it lands on him. He clears his throat and stands up, taking a small step back. The guy’s eyes are so intense that Lucas doesn’t know what to do when they’re focused on him. Well, that’s somewhat of a lie; he’d probably happily drown in them if given the chance.

‘I thought I’d keep her company,’ Lucas says.

He literally wouldn’t have been able to move even if he wanted to with the man’s kind stare on him, eyes crinkling a little at the corners. He brushes a hand lightly over the top of Madeleine’s head as he stands, fingertips catching on what Lucas has noticed is a little bear cub shaped hair clip.

‘Thank you, Lucas,’ he replies sincerely. Lucas swallows, getting lost in a sea of grey-blue and almost having to crane his neck in the process. Maybe it’s just him, but the air between them seems thick with tension all of a sudden. Lucas itches to say something to prolong their time together, but the moment’s soon broken.

‘I got chalk on your shirt,’ Madeleine laughs, drawing the man’s attention back to his daughter. The guy sinks his teeth into his lower lip as he looks at her, biting back a fond smile. Something warm starts to bloom in Lucas’ chest as he looks at them but he tries valiantly to push it down.

‘You didn’t wash your hands?’

She grins and shakes her head. The man breathes out a laugh, ducking away from Madeleine as she attempts to smear her grubby hands over more of his clothing. He circles his arms around her waist eventually, hoisting her up onto his hip and then covering her small hands with one of his larger ones. Lucas is seriously about to burst.

The guy’s laughter trails off and soon he’s looking back at Lucas. ‘Sorry about this.’

Lucas grins easily and shakes his head. ‘No, don’t be… You’re a lovely family.’ _Bit much?_ He’s not sure, but he thinks he’s safe judging by the answering grin he receives; it’s brighter than the fucking sun. Lucas looks away for a second, debating with himself. He holds his breath for a moment in order to steel himself and then returns full eye contact. ‘The bacon is two aisles down and you can find the blueberries at the front of the store.’

‘Good idea, Lucas!’ Madeleine says, wriggling out of the guy’s arms and clasping his hand instead. Lucas can’t quite get a read on his expression, but he definitely catches the soft smile that plays at the corners of his mouth. It’s a lot more muted than the other grins he’d been lucky enough to bear witness to, but it still holds the same power.

‘We’d better go, before someone steals our cart,’ the man murmurs, allowing himself to be pulled away.

‘Bye!’

With that, Madeline toddles off, holding her father’s hand. Lucas gulps as the man looks back over his shoulder and shoots him a parting smile.

‘...Bye,’ he whispers

Lucas is left standing in the middle of the aisle dumbstruck for a good half a minute before Alexia pops up behind him, making him jump.

‘You scared the shit out of me,’ Lucas says, clutching at his chest. Alexia chuckles and pushes a clipboard into his chest.

‘Someone needed to snap you out of your baby fever.’

Lucas turns to glare at Alexia. ‘I don’t have baby fever,’ he grumbles and then pauses. ‘Wait, you saw that?’

She grins at him triumphantly. ‘I’ve been waiting for like the last five minutes to ask you to teach Arthur how to fill out the inventory form again.’

Any happy feeling that resided inside him after his encounter immediately dissipates at Alexia’s request. ‘Please don’t do this to me.’

She pouts and shoves the clipboard a little harder against his chest. ‘I’m clocking out in ten, there’s no way I’m doing it.’

‘I hate you so much,’ Lucas groans under his breath as he snatches the inventory list.

‘I love you too, Lulu!’ she calls after him as he makes his way to the back of the store.

Thankfully, Arthur seems to have grasped the concept a lot more solidly than the last time Lucas had had to explain the process to him, but it still takes him close to twenty minutes and he’s ready to comically throw himself into a stack of cereal boxes in frustration by the time the interaction’s over. He trudges over to the checkout area, mentally preparing himself to deal with his least favourite part of the job.

He’s not even been at his position behind the counter for a minute before a cart pushes its way to his station. His breath hitches as two familiar figures come into view. Since he’d last seen him, the man had shrugged on a caramel coloured bomber. It definitely looks good on him, but Lucas is kind of mourning the uninterrupted view of his toned arms.

‘Hi,’ Lucas greets gently.

The guy beams and tilts his head to the side. ‘Hello again.’

‘Did you find everything you needed?’ Lucas asks innocently as various items are transferred from the trolley onto his conveyor belt.

‘Not quite… But I’m sure I’ll be back.’

Lucas flicks his gaze up to meet the other man’s, his lips slightly parted. The air’s charged again and it’s probably the most tension Lucas has ever felt while holding a jar of pasta sauce.

The two of them share secretive smiles as Lucas scans the items, Madeleine fruitlessly attempting to help bag the food at the end of the counter. Eventually, the man sighs and picks her up to place her in the trolley, just out of reach of the bags. Lucas grins, keeping his eyes down and trying not to laugh at her protests.

When he runs out of items to scan and the guy’s paid, Lucas feels a small tug of longing. _To make a move? To beg the guy to buy something else so he can stay in the store longer?_ He’s not entirely sure.

‘Receipt?’ Lucas asks shakily. It’s a completely normal question that for some reason now seems weighted. The man grins and nods his head. It takes Lucas a little longer than usual to figure out how to print the receipt, considering he’s a little distracted, but he manages to figure it out. He keeps his distance as he hands the paper over to the taller man, worrying that he might actually combust if they accidentally brush fingers.

‘Can we go home now? I’m tired of waiting,’ Madeleine says petulantly, playing with the handles of one of the plastic bags. The man smiles and ruffles his hand through her hair. They match now, hazel strands sticking out in every direction.

‘Soon, baby, soon.’ He huffs out a sigh and then directs his gaze to Lucas.

Lucas feels his cheeks warm at the attention but pays no mind to it as the other man rolls his eyes. The guy bites his lip for a second before drawing a pen out of his coat pocket. Lucas watches in confusion as he scribbles on the receipt he’d just given him. Madeleine seems baffled too, staring into the chaos of her father’s hair as he writes.

‘Actually, I think I’m good for the receipt.’

Lucas furrows his brows as the paper is shoved back into his hands, trying to ignore the slight spark that travels up his wrist at the contact. Luckily, he doesn’t combust. The man grins at him one last time before pushing his cart, child intact, away from Lucas’ checkout till.

Lucas, for some reason, shoves the receipt in his pocket and tries to get through the rest of his shift without thinking about the alluring customer and his adorable daughter.

As soon as he clocks off, he digs into his pocket and takes out the receipt to see carefully jotted letters and numbers scrawled over the expanse of paper.

Eliott. His name’s Eliott.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked this lil bit of fluff, let me know what you think!  
> oo and if anyone's interested, i'm still working on an update for consume me!  
> [tumblr](http://cheloueliott.tumblr.com)


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